Q: Has Anyone Had a Dog React Badly to Heartguard tablets?

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I have a rescue dog, between 1-2 years old, who was blood tested for heartworm in Dec. 2009 by the rescue and I had tested in late Mar. 2010. The Mar blood test was negative. In my area, dogs are not treated year round for heartworm, usually May through Nov. I am getting ready to administer his first dose and want to know what things I should look out for if he has a bad reaction to the Heartguard tablet.

Readers' Answers (6)

I've never had a dog have a bad reaction to Heartgard & here, they stay on it year-round. Heartworm is pretty bad around here & many of the rescues are HW+. Cassidy was positive & had a horrible reaction to the second phase of the HW treatment & almost died, but she's always tolerated the Heartgard Plus just fine. Right now I have three taking it every 30 days. The only thing I've noticed is that some dogs will have soft stools for a couple of days after taking it when they first start it. That usually goes away once they get used to the treatment. There is an injectible called Proheart 6 that is good for 6 months, but when it was first put on the market, there were major problems with it. Many dogs died. They pulled it & then reintroduced it, but there are still questions about its safety.

If your Vet has tested and said he does not have heartworm, I would use what the Vet gave me, I use Interceptor, if your dog had heartworm I think it's kinda of fast to be over it, it is a long & painful ordeal, if you pet has a chance of still having it, any heartworm medicine can kill him.

I always used Interceptor and have not heard of any bad reactions to Heartguard. Since your dog is healthy (no heartworms) there should be no problems. Some dogs get stomach upset when they first start medications so look out for that. It should not be severe or long lasting. If it is call your vet ASAP. Every dog and breed is unique and can react differently to medicines. A lot like people. Keep an eye on your pup for the first couple of days but more than likely nothing will happen. Its better to give heart worm preventitives than to risk getting heartworm. Heartworm is terrible on dogs its very painful.....and is preventable. Your doing the right thing for your dog.